Definition of "flat"

flat¹

/flæt/

adjective
comparative flatter, superlative flattest
1. Having no variations in height.
  1. In a horizontal line or plane; not sloping.
  2. Smooth; having no protrusions, indentations or other surface irregularities, or relatively so.
    Quotations
    The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue. [...].
    1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess‎
  3. (slang) Having small or invisible breasts and/or buttocks.
2. Without variation in level, quantity, value, tone etc.
  1. At a consistently depressed level; consistently lacklustre.
  2. (not comparable, commerce) Of fees, fares etc., fixed; unvarying.
  3. (music, voice) Without variations in pitch.
  4. (of colours) Without variation in tone or hue (uniform), and dull (not glossy).
3. (figurative) Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; uninteresting; dull and boring.
  Quotations
  A large part of the work is, to me, very flat.
  February 16, 1833, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Table Talk
  How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable / Seem to me all the uses of this world.
  c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]
  1. (authorship, figuratively, especially of a character) Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.
4. (music, note) Lowered by one semitone.
5. (music) Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.
6. Absolute; downright; peremptory.
  Quotations
  Wag[ner]. Vilaine, call me Maister Wagner, and let thy left eye be diametarily fixt vpon my right heele, with quasi vestigias nostras insistere [as if to follow in our footsteps]. / Clown. God forgiue me, he speakes Dutch fustian: / Well, Ile folow him, Ill serue him, that's flat.
  1589–1592 (date written), Ch[ristopher] Marl[owe], The Tragicall History of D. Faustus. […], London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Thomas Bushell, published 1604; republished as Hermann Breymann, editor, Doctor Faustus (Englische Sprach- und Literaturdenkmale des 16., 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts; 5; Marlowes Werke: Historisch-kritische Ausgabe […]; II), Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg: Verlag von Gebr[üder] Henninger, 1889, scene IV, page 38, lines 436–440
  SECOND WATCH. Marry, that he had received a thousand ducats of Don John for accusing the Lady Hero wrongfully.DOGBERRY. Flat burglary as ever was committed
  1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene ii]
  He is made like a tilting staffe; and lookes / For all the world like an ore-rosted pigge: / A great Tobacco taker too, thats flat.
  1602, John Marston, Antonio and Mellida, Malone Society Reprint, 1921, Act I, lines 324-326
7. (of a tire or other inflated object) Deflated, especially because of a puncture.
8. (of a carbonated drink) With all or most of its carbon dioxide having come out of solution so that the drink no longer fizzes or contains any bubbles.
9. (wine) Lacking acidity without being sweet.
10. (of a battery) Unable to emit power; dead.
11. (juggling, of a throw) Without spin; spinless.
12. (phonetics, dated, of a consonant) Sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant.
13. (grammar) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, such as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix; or an infinitive without the sign "to".
14. (golf, of a golf club) Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.
15. (horticulture, of certain fruits) Flattening at the ends.
16. (of measurements of time) Exact.
adverb
comparative more flat, superlative most flat
1. So as to be flat.
2. Bluntly.
3. (of accurately measured timings) Exactly, precisely.
  Quotations
  Dan Patch clocked a scorching 1:55.5 flat.
  1996, Jon Byrell, Lairs, Urgers and Coat-Tuggers, Sydney: Ironbark, page 186
4. (with units of time, distance, etc) Used to emphasize the smallness of the measurement.
  Quotations
  Found my coat and grabbed my hat / Made the bus in seconds flat
  1967, Lennon–McCartney (lyrics and music), “A Day in the Life”, in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
5. Completely.
6. Directly; flatly.
  Quotations
  Sin is flat opposite to the Almighty.
  , George Herbert, edited by [Nicholas Ferrar], The Temple: Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […]; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, […], 1885,
7. (finance, slang) Without allowance for accrued interest.
noun
plural flats
1. An area of level ground (sometimes covered with water).
  Quotations
  Envy is as the sunbeams that beat hotter upon a bank, or steep rising ground, than upon a flat.
  1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Envy”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret
  My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.
  1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 3, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
  1. (in the phrase 'the flat') Level ground in general.
  2. (horse racing, with 'the' or attributively, sometimes with capital) Level horse-racing ground, as contrasted with courses incorporating jumps, or the racing done on such ground.
    Quotations
    In light of Horse Racing Ireland's Covid-19 contingency plan announcement, that whenever racing resumes the Flat will be given priority, Elliott has decided to keep a number of talented jumpers on the go during the summer, with a view towards a dual-purpose campaign.
    2020, Brian Sheerin, Racing Post, "Gordon Elliott maps out summer Flat campaigns for talented jumpers" (article)
    In British horse racing, the classics are a series of horse races run over the flat (i.e. without jumps).
    2021 (retrieved), racing365.com, "Flat Racing Explained"
  3. (Australia, horse racing, with 'the' or attributively, sometimes with capital) the area in the centre of a racecourse.
    Quotations
    As forecast, Joe suspected nothing as he pottered round the flat in the sunshine, absorbed in the task of picking winners.
    1963, George Blaikie, Scandals of Australia's Strange Past, Adelaide: Rigby Limited, page 117
2. (music) A note played one chromatic semitone lower than a natural, denoted by the symbol ♭ placed after the letter representing the note (e.g., B♭) or in front of the note symbol (e.g. ♭♪).
3. (informal, automotive) A flat tyre/flat tire.
  Quotations
  The next one surrendered his bike, only for that, too, to give him a second flat as he started the descent.
  2012 July 15, Richard Williams, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track‎, Guardian Unlimited
4. (in the plural) A type of ladies' shoe with a very low heel.
5. (in the plural) A type of flat-soled running shoe without spikes.
6. (painting) A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolour painting.
7. The flat part of something:
  1. (swordfighting) The flat side of a blade, as opposed to the sharp edge.
  2. The palm of the hand, with the adjacent part of the fingers.
8. A wide, shallow container or pallet.
9. (mail) A large mail piece measuring at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches, such as catalogs, magazines, and unfolded paper enclosed in large envelopes.
10. (rail transport, US) A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.
  Quotations
  For example, when trailers containing new automobiles were first piggybacked two areas of potential damage became evident: (1) diesel locomotive exhaust left a film of oil on the new autos; and (2) auto windshields could be scarred or cracked by the metal-tipped "tell-tales" which warn men atop trains of oncoming bridges or tunnels. Accordingly, automobiles aboard piggyback flats are usually coupled into the train 15 or more cars behind the locomotive; and telltales have been raised.
  1960 November, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 684
11. A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught.
12. (geometry) A subset of n-dimensional space that is congruent to a Euclidean space of lower dimension.
13. A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned.
14. A flat sheet for use on a bed.
  Quotations
  You might think that Americans buy roughly the same number of fitted sheets as flats. Or, considering the market for electric blankets, duvets, and other covers, that consumers buy even more bottom sheets, simply forgoing the tops.
  1986, New York Magazine, volume 19, number 49, page 20
15. (publishing) A flat, glossy children's book with few pages.
  Quotations
  This same publisher notes pricing is a crucial factor in the mass market field of $1, $1.95 and $2.95 "flats."
  1970, The Publishers Weekly, volume 197, page 85
16. A platform on a wheel, upon which emblematic designs etc. are carried in processions.
17. (mining) A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.
18. (technical, theatre, stagecraft) A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan, or muslin, often produced in standard modules, that is used to build wall surfaces on stage. Flats can be painted and outfitted with doors and/or windows to depict a building or other part of a scene. It's a hard-surfaced alternative to a backcloth or backdrop.
19. (entomology) Any of various hesperiid butterflies that spread their wings open when they land.
20. (historical) An early kind of toy soldier having a flat design.
  Quotations
  Among the many US museums hosting flats, we may mention the Toy Soldier Museum in the Pocono Mountains, supervised by the historian, collector and dealer J. Hillestad.
  2019, Luigi Toiati, The History of Toy Soldiers, page 78
21. (obsolete) A dull fellow; a simpleton.
  Quotations
  […] if you cannot make a speech,Because you are a flat,Go very quietly and dropA button in the hat!
  1836, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Music-Grinders
  "He fancies he can play at billiards," said he. "I won two hundred of him at the Cocoa-Tree. HE play, the young flat! […] "
  1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 14, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848
22. Short for flat ride (“spinning amusement ride”).
23. (optics) A flat (i.e. plane) mirror
  Quotations
  "When sampling the aperture of a telescope, using auto-collimating flats (ACFs) is more economical"
  2013 April 1, Spechler et al., “Advanced Dispersed Fringe Sensing Algorithm for Coarse Phasing Segmented Mirror Telescopes”, in NASA Tech Briefs, retrieved 2021-12-27
24. (gambling, slang) A cheater's die with the edges shaved to make certain rolls more likely.
  Quotations
  He would slip in his six-ace flats, shaved dice that were made to bring up sevens. He'd throw them just long enough to get well, and then replace them with legitimate cubes.
  2005, Fred Cicetti, Local Angles: The Big News in Small Towns, page 78
verb
third-person singular simple present flats, present participle flatting, simple past and past participle flatted
1. (poker slang) To make a flat call; to call without raising.
2. (intransitive) To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.
3. (intransitive, music, colloquial) To fall from the pitch.
4. (transitive, music) To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.
5. (transitive, dated) To make flat; to flatten; to level.
  Quotations
  The pods, which seldom contain less than thirty nuts of the size of a flatted olive, grow upon the stem and principal branches.
  1764, James Granger, The Sugar-Cane: a Poem. In Four Books. With Notes., M.D., Book 1, page 44, note to verse 605
6. (transitive, dated) To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.
  Quotations
  Passions are allayed, appetites are flatted.
  a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). The Danger and Mischief of Delaying Repentance”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831

flat²

/flæt/

noun
plural flats
1. (chiefly Britain, New England, New Zealand and Australia, archaic elsewhere) An apartment, usually on one level and usually consisting of more than one room.
  Quotations
  The excellence of French flats is so well known in America, that the owner will often refer to his property as "first class French flats."
  1905, Sydney Perks, Residential flats of all classes, including artisans' dwellings: a practical treatise on their planning and arrangement, together with chapters on their history, financial matters, etc.,with numerous illustrations, page 204
  A kiss may be grand but it won’t pay the rental on your humble flat or help you at the automat.
  1953 January 1, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, in My Heart Belongs to Daddy‎, performed by Marilyn Monroe
  [NICELY]When you meet a gent paying all kinds of rent for a flat that could flatten the Taj Mahal. [BOTH]Call it sad, call it funny but it’s better than even money that the guy’s only doing it for some doll.
  1955 November 3, “Guys and Dolls”, in Guys and Dolls (Original Broadway Cast Recording)‎, performed by Stubby Kaye (as Nicely Nicely Johnson) and Johnny Silver (as Benny Southstreet)
  Fifteen percent of this group said that they were not satisfied with the public housing estates and their HDB[Singapore Housing & Development Board] flats (see Tables 11 and 12 respectively).
  1983, Tai Ching Ling, “Relocation and Population Planning: A Study of the Implications of Public Housing and Family Planning in Singapore”, in Wilfredo F. Arce, Gabriel C. Alvarez, editors, Population Change in Southeast Asia, page 184
  The Greater London Council formed the Estmanco company to manage a block of 60 council-owned flats. The council entered into an agreement with the company to sell off the flats to owner-occupiers.
  2002, MIchael Ottley, Briefcase on Company Law, page 76
  When the Dolphin Square's flats were first offered to the public in 1936, the South Block was still under construction, and the North Block was a building site.
  2014, Terry Gourvish, Dolphin Square: The History of a Unique Building, page 75
  Of course, closure of the West station took away the hotel's raison d'être. In May 2012, the local newspaper reported that this historic hotel, by then rated the town's worst (exemplified by its final review: "Please avoid at all costs"), was to be converted into 31 first-time-buyer one-bedroom flats.
  2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Bournemouth (circa 1880)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 60

flat³

/flæt/

verb
third-person singular simple present flats, present participle flatting, simple past and past participle flatted
1. (transitive, obsolete) To beat or strike; pound
2. (transitive) To dash or throw
3. (intransitive) To dash, rush

Definition of "flat"

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flat2

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flat¹

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